April 28, 2025

Apr 28, 2025

In this edition: US Army invites public comments on Camp Bowie cleanup proposal; DeLa Express pipeline opposition mourns loss of citizen activist; and the US Supreme Court upholds Due Process protections here in the Big Country

Artillery Impact Areas, Project 14

This is the less-than-informative title of a proposed clean-up plan by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Ft. Worth District, to remove World War 2-era munitions from a 722 acre area of the former Camp Bowie, south of Brownwood (not the active Camp Bowie Texas National Guard installation).

The plan also includes a public education component (“land use controls”) to address the risks of “munitions and explosives of concern” and “munitions debris” over an additional 25,500 acres of the World War 2 Camp Bowie training area. (The entire training area encompassed over 120,000 acres, extending into Mills County).

I searched the USACE Ft. Worth District website for the public notice of this plan, but could not find it there. Maybe you can:

https://www.swf.usace.army.mil/Media/Public-Notices/Year/2025/

I read the notice in the Brownwood Bulletin, where it ran on April 5 and 12. This is one of the main reasons I continue to subscribe to the Bulletin, for notices such as these. You can find the notice here:

https://brownwoodbulletin-tx.newsmemory.com/?token=3a0960241becb1ba30c159de931b459c_20250425_25552

You will need to go to page 9 of the April 12 edition, and click on the notice in the bottom right corner.

According to the notice, written comments on the Proposed Plan will be accepted from the public from April 16 to May 19. You can read a hard copy of the Proposed Plan, and documents used to create it, at the Brownwood Public Library. The friendly staff at the main desk will show you where to find it.

Helpful hint: Skip the big binders, although many of them are also related to previous environmental studies at Camp Bowie. The current plan is only 32 pages, in a regular manila file folder. You can request an email copy by calling or emailing Steve Martin at the USACE, 214-497-9564.

Email: Steven.G.Martin@usace.army.mil

Hidden History of Camp Bowie

Brownwood’s Camp Bowie looms large in local history, since it brought an economic and population boom not seen since, and local residents take patriotic pride in the camp’s role in the Allied victory in World War 2. The City of Brownwood includes a brief history in its website:

https://www.brownwoodtexas.gov/323/History-of-Camp-Bowie

Less visible remnants of the era include the Camp Bowie sewer lines, still in use today on the south side of town. My own home, built just before, or possibly during the Camp Bowie years, 1940-46, is connected to one of them that crosses our property.

Other lasting changes were made in and around Willis and South Willis Creeks, both within and just outside the city limits. Clearing the 5,oo0 acre campsite, which removed the native vegetation and compacted the soils, led to increased runoff into the creeks.

Record rainfall during the construction period turned the whole area into a muddy mess nicknamed “Camp Gooey.” By 1943 the US Army Corps of Engineers was excavating the main creek channels, backfilling abandoned channels, building levees, and repairing and replacing the bridges over the creeks.

In 2004, and again in 2016, the City of Brownwood paid the USACE to create two different plans to channelize Willis Creek for flood control, neither of which came to fruition.

Even after the construction of flood control dams on the Willis and South Willis Creek headwaters in the 1970’s, flooding in town remains a real threat, with the last flood on Willis Creek inside the city limits occurring in 2000. Yet the City of Brownwood (and Brown County, for that matter) continues to allow virtually unchecked paving and building in the watersheds, with only the bare minimum measures taken to address increasing stormwater runoff.

Alternate History of Camp Bowie?

The recorded history of Camp Bowie is that it was no longer needed after the end of the war, so the Army cleaned it up, and sold it back into private ownership. Local business and civic leaders, notably Groner Pitts and the Brownwood Mafia, saw an opportunity for its conversion to an industrial park, which was realized in the 1960’s, and so it provides a vital economic foundation for Brownwood to this day.

As I was researching this article, a good friend I consider a reliable source told me an alternate history he heard from his grandparents. In this version, the Army intended to maintain Camp Bowie as a major training base, forming a triangle in Central Texas with other major bases in Abilene (Dyess Army Air Force Base) and San Angelo ( San Angelo Air Corps Basic Flying School—now Goodfellow A.F.B.).

However, church and civic leaders in Brownwood had soured on some of the less desirable side effects of a big Army base, namely soldiers’ interactions with the local girls, and the wear and tear of the big trucks on local streets. They went to Washington and lobbied the Army to shut Camp Bowie down, and that is why the 3^rd big Central Texas military base was established in Killeen (Ft. Hood—now Ft. Cavazos), not Brownwood.

Is there any truth to this version? Let me know, if you know.

Remembering Tami Mewis—Texan Pipeline Activist

In my experience, activism is as much about the people as the cause. Finding strength in numbers isn’t just a truism—it’s the reality and a necessity to effect any meaningful change. Even this little newsletter would be pointless without a community of readers.

I met Tami last year at the Pipeline Safety Trust national conference in New Orleans. She and a neighboring landowner came because a company wants to build a new natural gas pipeline (the DeLa Express) through their rural properties in Purmela, about 70 miles southeast of Brownwood. (The pipeline would also pass through Brown County near the Brownwood Country Club). We all took the same flight from Austin, and had lunch together after we checked into the hotel.

Tami was pretty upset about this pipeline. She was originally from Austin, and when houses on her block started being torn down to make way for apartments and condos, she knew it was time to leave. Unable to bear the thought of her family home being torn down like the others, she took it with her—literally. And she took two more as well.

The houses were moved to property at Canyon Lake. Then it all happened again. More people moved in all around her, taxes went up, and she decided to move further out in the country. The houses came with her again.

Then the notice came that a 42’ interstate natural gas line was planned to cut through her acreage. Well, she wasn’t going to let that happen.

Tami was tough. She sat next to me on the plane ride back from the New Orleans conference, and told me about the many years she worked as a painter for the Physical Plant at UT Austin. She faced all the challenges you would expect in a male-dominated work force, and persevered.

After the conference, we stayed in touch through regular Zoom meetings with others involved in the Hold the Line Campaign to stop the DeLa Express pipeline.

On April 10, Tami was part of delegation that visited the State Capitol in Austin to meet with legislators regarding the DeLa Express. Her statement to lawmakers read:

As a multigenerational Texan, this pipeline bothers me more than I can express in words. Growing up, my parents taught me that I should follow the rules, pay my bills and now it seems like the “reward” for that is allowing a company to take a portion of my property against my will and operate carte blanche on the land I’ve fought so hard to afford to pay for. A business that seems to have very little regulations, and seems to only benefit the company and our global adversaries, such as China. In the meantime, it puts thousands of Texans and their property at risk.

The next day, Tami was at the Cattle Country Music Festival in Gonzalez, east of San Antonio, when she collapsed, and passed away. She was 64.

No cause of death has been announced to date. To my knowledge, Tami was not suffering from any chronic or acute disease. But she was determined to make a stand for her property rights and the quiet enjoyment of her beloved land at Purmela.

Supreme Court Halts Deportations from Nearby ICE Facility

You may have never heard of the Bluebonnet Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Facility in Anson, TX, just over 100 miles northwest of Brownwood, and 25 miles north of Abilene.

https://www.ice.gov/detain/detention-facilities/bluebonnet-detention-facility

This facility became national news over the Easter weekend, on April 19, when the US Supreme Court acted on an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union to block ICE deportations of Venezuelans held there, “until further order of this court.”

With alacrity that shocked even one of its own members (dissenter Samuel Alito), the Court upheld due process protections in a late night order, and buses already taking the Venezuelans to the airport were ordered to return.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/patience-runs-thin-trump-battle-162050743.html

Learn more here:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelan-migrants-were-set-deportation-160031790.html

What Process?

These days, it’s good to have a copy of the Constitution at hand for easy reference. In the Bluebonnet ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the 5^th Amendment (1791), which provides, among other things, that no person “shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…”

The text actually says “no person,” without listing any exceptions. So even alleged gang members have the right to challenge the government’s case before they are removed from the country, and likely sent to imprisonment with unknown conditions or term of confinement.

The Court is also specifically rejecting and denying the President’s claims of deportation authority under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, an authority granted only in wartime. Those claims were asserted in an Executive Order on March 15: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act-regarding-the-invasion-of-the-united-states-by-tren-de-aragua/

Presidential Attacks on the Constitution Will Now Be Covered Here

If I seem to be straying from my stated mission to cover policy, funding, and public meetings affecting the local ecology of Brownwood and Brown County, bear in mind that the First Amendment to the Constitution (1791), which guarantees freedom of the press (and my freedom to publish this newsletter), is also under attack by the President and his administration.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5195881-trump-media-illegal/

In my view, the current multiple attacks on the Constitution by the President affect our fundamental rights and freedoms, the functionality of our federal government, our national security, and environmental quality. Citizenship now demands that we all take responsibility for defending the Constitution, whether or not we have taken an oath to do so.

https://verfassungsblog.de/trumps-counter-constitution/

As the current constitutional crisis continues, I will prioritize covering the constitutional challenges most relevant to our region, but from time to time I may feel compelled to go further. Your feedback is always welcomed. See below for contact info.

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Civic Calendar: Your shortcut to citizenship and political participation

Brownwood City Council 501 Center Ave City Hall

9 am every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday

https://brownwoodtexas.gov/150/City-Council

City of Brownwood Agenda Center posts agendas for Boards and Commissions including:

City Council, Airport Board, B’wd Municipal Development District Board, Building and Standards Commission, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Planning and Zoning Commission and more….

https://www.brownwoodtexas.gov/AgendaCenter

Early City Council 960 Early Blvd. City Hall

6 pm every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday

https://www.earlytx.net/96/City-Council

Blanket City council 718 Main St. Blanket Lions Club

5:30 pm Third Monday

https://www.facebook.com/cityofblanket/photos

Bangs City Council 109 S. First St. City Hall

6 pm 2^nd and 4^th Monday

https://www.cityofbangs.org/

Brown County Commissioners 200 S. Broadway County Courthouse

9 am First and Third Mondays confirm on county calendar